Earth Just Had The Warmest Winter On Record

Here in New York, it's supposed to snow 3 to 6 inches today. Happy first day of spring!

Clearly, something wonky is happening with the climate. So, this shouldn't come as a surprise: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday that the Earth just had its warmest winter on record.

Specifically, the Northern Hemisphere, where 90% of the world's population lives, had its warmest winter — December through February — on record, while the Southern Hemisphere had its fourth-warmest summer.

Global temperature records go all the way back to 1880. This winter's temperatures beat the previous record in 2007 by 0.05 degrees, reported NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. February 2015 also registered as the second warmest February ever on record.

According to USA Today, these warmer-than-average temperatures can be attributed to a blossoming El Niño —- a climate pattern when warm sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific influence weather around the world. The effects of El Niño could cause the entire year to end up being the warmest on record.

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Really scary stuff — even from over here in the cooler-than-average Northeast.

Emi Boscamp received a BA in English and minors in Spanish and Art History from Cornell University. She's a writer living in Manhattan and enjoys cooking, eating, traveling, and writing about all three of those things. She loves anything pickled. And anything punny. (She's kind of a big dill.)

Emi Boscamp received a BA in English and minors in Spanish and Art History from Cornell University. She's a writer living in Manhattan and enjoys cooking, eating, traveling, and writing about all three of those things. She loves anything pickled. And anything punny. (She's kind of a big dill.)